Matt Doherty (basketball) - North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina head coach Bill Guthridge retired in 2000 and it was commonly believed that the job would go to another member of the "Carolina Family" of coaches. The school very publicly courted Roy Williams, who had left North Carolina for Kansas in 1988, but Williams refused the job. After other candidates such as George Karl, Larry Brown, and Eddie Fogler (all North Carolina alumni) refused the job or did not pan out for various reasons, North Carolina turned to the 38-year-old Doherty to lead the Tar Heels.

Doherty's first season was largely a success as the Heels shot to the #1 ranking in the polls in the middle of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule. Fans and players alike seemed energized by his boisterous and in-your-face coaching style, which seemed refreshing when compared to the low-key Smith and Guthridge. (In fact, Doherty received a standing ovation when he was hit with a technical foul in the team's first game of the season.) However, a string of unexpected losses in the latter part of the year set the Tar Heels reeling. They still finished with an impressive 26-7 record and a tie for the ACC regular season title. The season ended on a sour note, though, with early exit out of the NCAA Tournament with a second-round upset loss to Penn State. Doherty was named as national coach of the year by the Associated Press.

The 2001-02 season would not be nearly as enjoyable for Doherty and the Tar Heels as the loss of the previous year's seniors, combined with the unexpected loss of Joseph Forte to the NBA and two football players who had played a significant amount the previous season electing not to return to the basketball team (Julius Peppers and Ronald Curry), plus a roster full of untested freshmen, proved disastrous. The Tar Heels finished the season with a record of 8–20, finishing with a losing record for the first time since 1962 (Dean Smith's first year as coach). They missed postseason play entirely for the first time since the 1965–66 season (including a record 27 straight NCAA Tournament appearances). The 20 losses were easily the most a Tar Heel team has ever suffered. They also finished 4–12 in the ACC—only the Tar Heels' second losing record in ACC play ever. The 12 losses were five more than the Tar Heels had ever suffered in a single season of ACC play, and placed them in a tie for 7th place—the program's first finish below fourth place ever. The season also saw the end of UNC's run of 31 straight 20-win seasons and 35 straight seasons of finishing third or higher in the ACC.

In 2002–2003 the Tar Heels rebounded but still fell short of what North Carolina fans had come to expect, finishing 19-16 and earning a berth in the NIT. The team started extremely well, winning the preseason NIT with decisive victories over Kansas and Stanford, but an early, season-ending injury to center Sean May left the team with almost no presence inside. Throughout the year many players (particularly May) and other program insiders had publicly voiced their displeasure with Doherty, and fans began to call for Doherty's firing.

According to Blue Blood by Art Chansky (a longtime historian on the UNC program), Doherty was told on March 31 that he would not be allowed to return due to an irreparable rift with his players. Given the option of resigning or being fired, he resigned the next day.

According to Chansky, the seeds for Doherty's downfall were planted by decisions made soon after being named as coach. He announced that he would bring his entire staff from Notre Dame, leaving assistant coaches Phil Ford, Pat Sullivan and Dave Hanners out of jobs. He also forced out several longtime secretaries in the basketball office. In his first address to the team, he stated that he felt they had not done enough—something which jarred a group that had managed to make a Cinderella run to the Final Four in the previous season. The day after the resignation, Inside Carolina's Thad Williamson reported that UNC officials were very concerned about the lack of a respectful environment in the program. In part because of this, three scholarship players had transferred—an unusually high number for any college basketball program, especially one of UNC's stature. Several more were threatening to leave if Doherty had been allowed to stay on. Doherty had reportedly been given a year to make things more harmonious if he wanted to keep his job. According to Chansky, apparently this didn't happen, as only two players supported Doherty's return for the 2003–04 season.

A commonly held theory portrays Doherty as being forced out by athletic officials at UNC in order to make way for Williams, who was tapped to replace Doherty. Doherty said as much during an ESPN interview shortly after his resignation. Finally in 2006, with many years separation from his supposed resignation, Doherty no longer spoke positively about his time at UNC and admitted he felt he was pushed out of his job. Williams refused to talk negatively about his former assistant coach Doherty. Although Williams would later admit that he felt the 8–20 season was a disgrace, he would never specifically mention Doherty's name. After taking the job, Williams never publicly voiced strong criticism in various interviews of what some viewed as the heavy-handed manner school officials handled Doherty's dismissal, especially the press conference held by Chancellor James Moeser and Athletic Director Dick Baddour.

Doherty kept a low profile immediately following his resignation from North Carolina. He served as a college basketball analyst on such outlets as ESPN and the now-defunct C-SET over the next two seasons and also covered a few Big 12 games on ESPN Plus.